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Scorpius Malfoy and the Apple Wand (story)
SMatPA will span Scorpius Malfoy's first year at Hogwarts. Any and all connections to the activist group "The Harry Potter Alliance" is completely incidental but humorous non the less (I admit, I had forgotten about them and wondered why the name sounded familiar). I blame my subconscious brilliance. Summary: ''Scorpius Malfoy loves his family, and he loves his home. He also loves Affy's chicken sandwiches. However, during his last Christmas before his eleventh birthday he wishes for friends. When his wish is granted, his life will never be the same again.'' Disclaimer: 'You'll never believe this but I am actually not Rowling. Yeah, I was just as shocked when I found out. A big empty house ''Somewhere in Wiltshire, England, lives a family of wizards called the Malfoys, in a big, beautiful home called Malfoy Manor. The manor, or at the very least the land it stands on, is rumoured to have belonged to the Malfoys since before the wizarding word was hidden from the muggle. Every Christmas the manor shines like a like a precious jewel of light, gleaming over the vast uninhabited lands surrounding it. Scorpius Malfoy nudged a garland of gilded greenery out of the way before carefully opening door 28 of the day and holding up his candle for light. The room beyond appeared to be some rarely used workspace. A bench lined the farthest wall, with cauldrons piled beneath it. There was only one painting in here and it seemed uninhabited. The remaining wall space was claimed by empty shelves and cabinets. Scorpius closed the door again and continued his trek down the hallway. This part of the manor wasn't lived in and was only decorated on principle. Scorpius liked it, even if it was more than a little creepy and he had to carry around a candle since some rooms – like the workroom – didn't have windows and thus weren't lit magically. It wasn't like he had anything better to do than walking the hallways. It was too cold and dark to go flying, and he had already eaten enough food and candy to feel a bit sick. His family wouldn't miss him, at least not yet. When he had left the main living space his dad had been engrossed in tinkering with an antique omniscope that needed a few charms replaced, and his mum and grandmother had sipped champagne and talked about something-or-other that Scorpius was too young to hear about. That left grandfather, who had been staring into the fire ever since grandmother placed him in his armchair a few hours ago. His only movement so far had been to sip firewisky and refill his glass. No, exploring the manor was much more fun. Granted, he didn't even know what their two house-elves, Metty and Affy, were up to, but they always insisted he'd stay clean and safe and that ruled out just about everything that Scorpius thought was fun. Affy's idea of fun was folding socks, that was not an option – not for Christmas. Anyway, counting to ten bedrooms, five bathrooms, three walk-in closets and another ten miscellaneous rooms wasn't so bad for Christmas. Scorpius opened door 29 and grinned to himself. Not bad at all, if you find a narrow little stairway he was certain he never had seen before. He was on the top floor, so they must lead to some kind of attic space. Scorpius wasted no time climbing them, unsettling years worth of dust in his wake. ---- The attic space was everything Scorpius had anticipated it would be. Dusty, cramped and filled with treasures. Well, for a given value of treasure. Other than a narrow winding path the space was filled with boxes, all of them carefully labelled in either his grandmother's elegant calligraphy or Metty's careful block letters. The ones closest to the stairs seemed, upon a cursory glance, to contain baby pictures of Scorpius. He ignored them in favour of the older boxes further in. He was more successful with the one labelled "Assorted, not family". These photos showed, in fading colour, how a veritable horde of richly dressed people milled through the equally richly decorated rooms of Malfoy Manor. Politicians and pureblood nobility from twenty to thirty years ago, judging by the short notes penned on the backside of the photos. One had the writing "Fudge, Minister for Magic, with Mr. Nott – 1992" and showed two politely smiling men. One of them was at least as old as Scorpius grandfather was now and the other had a bowler hat with evergreen pinned on the brim. Scorpius noted that the older man – the one who most resembled Venetia and Natalia Nott's father – looked at bit more strained in his smile and pointedly didn't look at the evergreen hat. The next photo must have been misplaced, because it clearly showed Scorpius' grandfather sitting in the drawing room surrounded by – Scorpius flipped the photo to read – Mr Crabbe, Mr Goyle, Mr Yaxley and Mr Snape, all of them seated in front of a hearty fire and drinking from glasses filled with rich amber liquor. Scorpius wondered where all of those people were now. It was like looking into another world, or an alternate universe, where Malfoy Manor at least occasionally bustled with life. Photo after photo displayed similar grandeur. Scorpius wished that he had been there so he could have seen it for himse- “Young Master!” Scorpius startled at the sound of Affy's panicked shriek, accidentally dropping the photos he'd been holding. "Oh young master knows he shouldn't be here, mistress Astoria has been so worried for young master – and look at young master's clothes - dusty all over!" Scorpius grimaced as the tiny elf fussed about correcting his clothes. He barely managed to sneak one of the photos into his pocket before Affy gathered up the rest and stocked them away with short, twitchy movements. "I just wanted to look at the pictures, there's nothing dangerous up here anyway. Only dust and boxes." Affy smiled very briefly, but then she looked stern again and clicked her tongue. "Young master knows that he isn't allowed to be here. Affy shouldn't have let young master wander off like this. Oh, young master, and Metty who had hoped for a peaceful Christmas – young master knows that Metty always worries so much for young master." Metty, their other house-elf, was so old that she usually was left to do the easier tasks in the manor. She had been looking after Scorpius' grandfather when he was young and Scorpius was quite sure that she didn't worry all that much about anyone unless they were in a portrait or making a mess. Scorpius didn't protest as he was led down the stairs from the attic, hand held gently by the elf as if she thought he would run away. He wouldn't, but didn't protest anyway. Affy always moved in a series of spasms, something Scorpius dad had explained as nerve damage. It always worried Scorpius when she walked in stairs instead of just apparating up and down. She seemed confident enough, but the stairs were awfully steep. Shuffling though the deserted halls, Scorpius surreptitiously stuck his other hand in his pocket and touched the photo. The manor had looked different once. Bustling and lively and alive. Five persons weren't enough to fill a manor, not even with two house-elves to boost. Especially not at Christmas when other families could complain over not having enough space as in-laws and uncles and cousins and friends filled in and filled up rooms. Scorpius had read about families like that, with Christmases like that. He knew he had more family on his mother's side, but none of them seemed very interested in meeting Scorpius and they had certainly never showed up for Christmas. Scorpius wished he had more people to fill out the dead space with. Diagon Alley '''Dream a Dream Scorpius stood hunched outside the small second floor workroom and tried to hear what his family was talking about through the keyhole. It was something they were trying to keep from him, whatever it was. Just as he thought he heard his name mentioned the keyhole bit his ear. He reached up to feel it, but then his ear fell off. Well, it wasn't bleeding and he couldn't feel the sting from the bite anymore, but he still rather have it attached again so he walked off to see if he could find Metty. As he walked he had the growing feeling that something was off. Why was he looking for Metty in a forest? No, where had the forest come from anyway? He soon forgot about that though, when he saw a nest full of brightly coloured Easter eggs. Picking one up he realsed it was the charmed jewelled egg his grandmother kept in the drawing room. "Scorpius." Scorpius looked up to find a huge, white, longlegged bird staring down at him. "Err, are these your eggs?" he asked, holding it up. "Scorpius, wake up already." Scorpius opened his eyes and realized he was still in bed. Right, he'd gotten the Hoqwarts letter the other day. He dozed for a bit longer before going up and heading down to the dining room where half the table was occupied by suitcases. His dad looked up from the newspaper. "Scorpius, you can't move to Scotland in your pajamas." Scorpius was about to protest when someone shook his arm. He opened his eyes again and saw Affy. "Really, young master, if young master sleep any longer young master won't have time for breakfast before it's time to go shopping!" "Shopping?" Scorpius asked, still a bit disoriented. He looked around and noticed he was still in his bedroom. "In Diagon Alley young master, for young master's school supplies. Mistress Astoria and old mistress Narcissa have already tried to wake up young master twice and Affy needs to do something about young master's bed." She looked disaprovingly at the mess of bedding. "Affy is thinking about nailing it down." Scorpius hummed noncomittally as he gracefully rolled out of bed and somehow managed to not land on his face. He wasn't entirely sure that he was really awake but going to Diagon Alley sounded like fun. ---- It was an effort, but Scorpius managed to resist the urge to drag his finger through his now-slicked hair. The gel was icky and made his hair feel vaguely as if he had emptied a bottle of glue over his head - a thought that brought back unpleasant memories. Looking into the hallway mirror he came to the conclusion that it was a hair helmet. Still, he though, if that is what it takes… Wearing a hair helmet was a small price to pay for experiencing the excitement of the bustling Diagon Alley. His letter from Hogwarts had arrived at breakfast and his mother and grandmother had showered him with praise and general affection. Scorpius tried not to think of what their reaction would have been if he hadn’t gotten a letter. “Scorpius dear, are you ready?” “Yes mother.” Scorpius managed to not inform his mother that he had been ready for a good half hour – earlier still if his grandmother hadn’t insisted he “do something about his hair” – and had been pacing in front of the fireplace while the adults were arguing over what shops to buy from and what additional purchases needed to be made. “Good – now let us hope that shopping early will spare us from the worst crowds.” Scorpius nodded, though he wasn’t entirely sure what it was about crowds that his parents wanted to avoid. He had the feeling that his family wanted the shopping over with quickly, and his mother’s body language did nothing to dispel the impression. Her shoulders were stiff, her mouth a thin painted line and she absently fingered the snake-themed bracelet Scorpius’ dad had given her for their tenth anniversary. After what felt like forever they finally took the floo to The Leaky Cauldron, Scorpius father first, then Scorpius and finally his mother. There were more people there than Scorpius was used to, but his father steered him out to the backyard by the shoulder before he could get a good look. A pity, as a family came in from the front just before they left and Scorpius was curious at what seemed like an ongoing argument between two dark-haired boys. He thought he heard the taller boy say something about Slytherin just as he went out and the shorter boy’s cry of “will not!” was cut short as Scorpius’ father practically slammed the door shut before stalking over to the brick wall. “Draco dear, calm down.” “I am calm” Scorpius father replied through tight lips. Scorpius thought it was odd that his father suddenly got so very tense, but maybe he just hadn’t been prepared for the sudden bustle from the other family. Scorpius soon forgot the mystery however, as the wall opened up to reveal Diagon Alley with its magical merchants and the goods they sold. He drank in the sights and tried to memorize as much of it as he could. Rough voices haggling over prices, children chattering away and a steady murmur of conversation; exotic smells that poured out of some of the shops every time a door was opened. Over the houses he could just barely make out the faint light of the Patroni-wards that kept out any stray Dementor attack. Scorpius was fairly sure that the attacks were pretty infrequent these days, but he noticed that his father also looked at the wards and seemed calmed by the light. Since the cauldron shop was closest to them, a cauldron was their first purchase, closely followed by potions ingredients. Taken back by the smell, Scorpius tried to breath as little as possible until they had left the apothecary. Scorpius dragged his feet just a little bit when they passed the owl emporium. He was quite sure that if he asked for an owl he would get one, but his father always praised the aggressive and territorial behaviour of his own eagle owl and Scorpius didn't want to risk getting an animal like Ruthless. The air in Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment was far better than in the apothecary, and now Scorpius noticed that something was off. People kept giving them odd looks. The shopkeeper had the same look on her face as Scorpius' grandmother would on the discovery of lice in her flowerbeds, and a woman hastily pulled her child closer as if they would harm them. It was unnerving enough that Scorpius didn't protest when his mother steered him around like a small child, the contact was comforting. Once they had bought a telescope, scales and a carefully wrapped set of crystal phials, the family continued down the alley. Suddenly Scorpius' dad halted. Scorpius followed his stare but saw nothing more than two boys his own age, getting fitted for their robes in the window of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. “Are we getting my robes from there? Dad?” Finally he seemed to shake out of his odd mood and turned back to Scorpius. “No, we'll get those at Twilfit and Tattings.” For a moment it seemed as if he would say something more, but then they continued down the alley. Getting robes took more time than Scorpius would have wished. Besides his school robes there was the question of whether he needed more leisure clothes (“no”), five kinds of footwear (“why?”) or a new winter cap (“but it's July!”), and his mother took the opportunity to make purchases for the rest of the family. Finally it was only the books and the wand left. Scorpius' father had already decided that they were saving the books for last, which meant... “Kiddell makes perfectly acceptable wands.” “Dear, I really think we ought to at least try Ollivanders.” “I really don't see-” “It's been nineteen years-” “-And people still remembers, I hardly see how he would have forgotten-” “At least we ought to try.” The exchange between his parents didn't make much sense to Scorpius, but he silently followed them to Ollivanders. The inside of the shop was small and with a distinct air of “shabby”, not unlike the attic at Malfoy Manor. When Scorpius' eyes had gotten used to the dim light he noticed a red-haired girl in the middle of the room, accompanied by a woman holding several packages, similar to what the Malfoys now had. There was also an apron-clad man, roughly the same age as Scorpius' father, who seemed to work there and, behind a small desk, a man so old that he just might be a mummy. “Malfoys, I was wondering if you would show up,” the mummy spoke. “You will have to wait while Miss Nettlebed tries for her wand.” Scorpius might have imagined it, but his dad seemed relieved as he gave the old man a curt nod. The man in the apron looked as if he wanted to protest something, but the old man waved him towards the girl, Nettlebed. “Spruce and dragon heartstring, twelve inches and unyielding.” The girl took the wand and gave it a flick. The resulting explosion caused most of the wands on the left wall to fly off the shelves and out of their boxes, scattering in the room with a great clattering. “No, clearly no – Mr. Summers, do put the wands back in order and try Poplar next time.” Scorpius noticed that one of the wands had landed right at his feet. As the old man spoke he picked it up and looked at the mess that had been made out of the room. His arm felt warm, and his hand tingled where the wand touched. He gave it a flick. At that instant, just as the apron-man, Summers, was about to raise his own wand, the wands flew back into their boxes and restocked themselves on the shelves. Everyone in the shop looked at Scorpius and for a moment he thought he had really gotten himself in trouble. Then a sound came from the old man, not quite unlike the sound of a dying Whizz Popper. It took a moment until Scorpius realised it was laughter. “Impatient, aren't we?” The old man got up and summoned a box as he made his way towards Scorpius, peering up at him. “Apple wood and dragon heartstring. Ten and three quarter inch long, springy. Not a wand I would have expected to suit you, young Malfoy.” For some reason, the old man seemed amused by this. Ten minutes later they were walking back towards Flourish & Blotts, in Scorpius case with a vague feeling that there was a joke that he hadn't understood. “Malfoy, is that you?” Scorpius tuned at the same time as his parents did and saw a tall man with obnoxiously fashionable robes wave at them. Close behind was a dark-haired boy in Scorpius' age. “Ah thought as much, there’s no mistaking on that blond hair after all. And this is your wife and son, I take it?” Scorpius’ father hummed non-committal and discreetly placed himself between Scorpius and the man. “Yes this is Astoria and Scorpius. And you...” Scorpius pictured how his father mentally flipped through piles of business cards trying to find the appropriate name for the face “... Vaisey, right? You were a chaser for Slytherin.” The recollection seemed to relax Scorpius' dad somewhat, and the man gave a cheerful smile. “Quite so, though these days I’m head of Slytherin.” Vaisey then clasped a hand down on the dark-haired boy and hauled him up in front of the Malfoys. “And this is Michel Bellamy. His mother is a friend of mine so I'm looking after him while he's in England. A real ray of sunshine isn't he?” At that, Michel went from looking bored to looking affronted, and Scorpius felt a bit sorry for him. At least Scorpius had his parents with him to shop for Hogwarts. Scorpius' dad and Vaisey went into a rather predictable “and what have you been doing the last decade or so” kind of discussion. Scorpius spent the time trying to talk to Bellamy, who was apparently from France but could speak just as much English as Scorpius could speak French – fluidly but with a silly accent. “Well, it's nice seeing you again Vaisey, but we must keep going. This day is getting far to warm to spend conversing on the street.” “By all means, it is surprisingly warm for good old England.” Vaisey then turned to Scorpius. “I'm looking forward to seeing you at Hogwarts Mr. Malfoy. Until then.” As they walked away Scorpius tugged at his father's sleeve. “He was an old friend of yours? Why haven't he ever visited the manor?” “We played quidditch together, but he's a bit older than me so we didn't interact much outside of practice. It seems he left the country for a few years after he graduated so there wasn't much chance of us keeping contact.” Not much more was said until they reached Flourish & Blotts. It was closing in to midday now and it was warmer and more crowded than before. When the bookstore finally came into view it seemed to have far too many people, way too many books and not nearly enough quidditch gear – unlike the store next to it. “Scorpius dear, I was planning to make a few purchases for your grandparents while your father gets your books. Is there anything you need outside of your school supplies?” A new broomstick, ice cream, perhaps some fireworks... Hastily sorting out his priorities, Scorpius gestured towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. “Actually mother, I was thinking of looking at the new brooms and maybe, um-” “And maybe restock your supply of tornadoes memorabilia?” his father supplied. He looked amused though, and Scorpius congratulated himself on his choice. He wasn't quite as obsessed with quidditch as his father thought, but he liked it more than his parents liked explosives. “Very well. Just remember to not leave the shop. I will be twenty minutes at the very most and after that we should have time for refreshments before meeting up with your mother and returning home.” Scorpius perked up. “Refreshments” on a hot July day usually meant ice cream – and it was well needed. As such he felt a great gratitude to whoever maintained the cooling charm in the quidditch shop. Even if it was many people in here as in the book store the air was crisp and well circulated to the point of being draughty. The first thing that caught Scorpius' eye in the shop was a displayed broomstick on a raised dais, enclosed in glass casing, no doubt there to protect it from the grubby hands of a group of children that stood with their noses pressed as close as possible to the broom. A group of adults stood a few inches away from the glass, eyeing the broom just as eagerly but with their hands clasped behind their backs. With some effort, Scorpius managed to make his way to the glass casing and he read, from a gilded plate, the words Falcon G3 Prototype It was, quite possibly, love at first sight. The handle not only had a new – no doubt revolutionary – design for improved aerodynamics, it also seemed like it would provide a good grip and it was decorated with the trademark silhouette of the falcon series' namesake “She is beautiful” moaned a boy nearby, voicing Scorpius' thoughts. “It sure is,” Scorpius agreed “look at the bristles, I bet it could turn on a knut at full speed -” “-And what a speed” interrupted a girl, probably a few years younger than Scorpius. The boy tore his eyes away from the broom to look at the girl. “What do you know about speed? You're too small to play for real anyway.” “Seekers have to be small – dad says so!” “You're nine!” Scorpius looked from one to the other until he settled for the boy, who seemed closer to his own age. “Do you play quidditch?” “Yeah, as chaser. Well, only with family and friends. I was a firstie last year so they wouldn't let me try out. You?” Scorpius shrugged. “This will be my first year. We live pretty isolated and my family is pretty small, but my dad used to play when he was at Hogwarts so he's been teaching me. He wants me to be a seeker, like he was, but that seems pretty boring.” This sparked a fierce debate with the girl, who wanted to be a seeker like her dad had been. Gradually Scorpius found out that her name was Lily, that she cheered for the Holyhead Harpies and used her brother's old Skysweeper. The boy was the aforementioned brother, James, and they had another brother called Al as well as almost a dozen cousins. “So, you said this'll be your first year?” “Yeah, dad is in the book store buying my books.” “Cool, then you'll be in the same year as Al. Too bad we couldn't get him in here without using brute force.” “He doesn't like quidditch?” “Nah. He'll play because everyone else in the family does, but he's really rubbish at it. He's more like our aunt 'Mione, sits in a library with a pile of books instead. He's good with explosives though.” As far as Scorpius was concerned any connection to pyrotechnics instantly made up for lack of quidditch enthusiasm. “So he’s buying books then?” “Don’t think so. I heard him ask dad for a more extensive potion set before we made a run for it. Hopefully they’re getting something that can blow up.” After that the discussion turned to prank items. It seemed as if James knew the inventory of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes by heart, as well as a fair deal of the merchandise from other stores as well. Far too soon the time was up and Scorpius father clasped his shoulder. “Scorpius, have you found something you want?” “No, I sort of got distracted.” Scorpius replied, nodding towards the broom and his new friends. “Right. We better get going so come along.” Scorpius barely had time to say his goodbyes before he was practically dragged out, much like he had been in the morning. Just like at that time, Scorpius’ dad seemed tense and stressed. “Who were those children you were talking to Scorpius?” “James and Lily.” “James and Lily who?” “I didn’t ask. Just James and Lily. James is starting his second year and he promised he’d show me all the shortcuts to the classrooms if I ended up in the same house as his brother who’s also a first year and I think they have a cousin who’s also a first year but she’s a girl and-“ “Scorpius, calm down and don't talk so fast. Do you even know what house this James belongs to?” “He… no, I don’t. Probably not Ravenclaw though, he didn’t seem to like books.” “Ah, probably not then.” It seemed as if his dad had calmed down himself now, although there was still something tense over him when he ordered their ice creams in a brightly coloured ice cream parlour. “Don’t get me wrong, Scorpius, I’m happy that you are making friends, but Hogwarts has a deeply rooted house rivalry. You said that this James would show you around if you end up in the same house as his brother? Well, how do you think that will play out if you are sorted in Slytherin and James and his brother are in Gryffindor?” “But James is cool! Well, he cheers for Puddlemore, but other than that- he plays quidditch and he seemed really nice.” For a moment it seemed as if Scorpius’ dad tried to frown and smile at the same time, but finally he just sighed. “All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t set your hopes up too high. No matter how things play out with your friend you’ll always have your housemates after you’re sorted, remember that. Your house will be like a second family. Do you remember Venetia and Natalia Nott? Natalia will be in your year, and probably sorted in Slytherin like her sister. Theodore, Pansy, your mum and I all were in Slytherin-” Scorpius nodded dejectedly, keeping his eyes on his melting ice cream. “Yeah, but last time the Notts were over Venetia said she never wanted to come back and Natalia didn't speak to me even before I joked with them. Anyway, I recon Al might be a Ravenclaw though, they said he reads a lot and Slytherin and Ravenclaw don’t have much rivalry, right?” “Did you meet this Al?” “No, but-” “But nothing. Don’t put too many expectations on someone you don’t even know. And pouring glue in someone's hair does not constitute a joke, it was a very cruel thing to do to a young lady.” Scorpius refrained from saying that he didn’t know his future housemates either (beyond possibly the Notts) yet it seemed fine to expect that they would be some new family, and that he didn't particularly want to be in a family with the Nott sisters. The next ten minutes or so was a wordless competition between father and son in who could eat slowest. Scorpius’ father won, throwing his melted ice cream remains in the rubbish bin when Scorpius was done. The rubbish bin loudly declared that they should think about the environment. The other customers seemed to be of the opinion that they should have left the ice cream on the table instead of riling up the bin. Meetings By September first the warmth seemed to have seeped out of the summer, and the morning was crisp and cool. Most of the morning rush had already passed, but there were still plenty of muggles around when the Malfoys stormed past at 10:45. ... Scorpius leaned out of the window, allowing his mother to clasp his hand one last time before the train started to move. "Make sure to write if anything happens dear." 'I will mum, I promise!' With a shudder, the Hogwarts Express lurched forward, slowly working up speed as it took Scorpius away from his parents, away from the security of the familiar and towards the most frighteningly exciting goal of any magical child. The other students in the carriage were all older than Scorpius and seemed to be busy catching up with each other. The station had barely one outg of sight before the door to the compartment banged up loud enough that one of the students nearly tore his book. Scorpius had a split second to recognize James between two near identical blond boys, before James pointed at Scorpius and declared: “Aha! There you are!” The other students in the compartment tried to argue with James, except the brown-haired girl who held up the small rectangular object. It made a clicking sound and then she started fiddling with it again. Scorpius didn't much care to ask what it was anymore because James elegantly brushed off all arguments by calling the offenders “boring” and turned to Scorpius. "Hello James," Scorpius said, trying and failing to control his grin. "Oh good, you remember me, I like to make that impression. You know any of these people? No? Anything you need in your trunk? Right, chug that along, we'll help carrying it." "We" turned out to be James and the two blond twin boys who enthusiastically took hold of Scorpius's trunk and lugged it along while James steered Scorpius towards the back of the train. "Not that I mind a change of seating, but where are we going?" "Last carriage, that's where Al and our cousin Rose are. Trust me, you are better off knowing your fellow firsties than some dull 4th years." Scorpius was then summarily introduced to Lorcan and Lysander Scamander before James hauled him away, the Scamanders trailing behind with his trunk. A few compartments down James threw open another door, declared himself back, and plopped down on the nearest seat – still holding on to Scorpius who barely avoided landing in his lap. On the seat opposite sat a boy and a girl that were introduced as Albus Potter (“but everyone calls him Al, because like aunt Mione he's all-knowing”) and Rose Weasley respectively. Weasley was the one who most blatantly stared. She seemed to have twice as much hair and freckles than anyone else Scorpius had seen, and was already dressed in her Hogwarts robes. Al had thin face, matching thin frame and an oddly faded brown hair colour. The Scamander brothers made do with the leftover space and sat down opposite each other. Scorpius noted that the twin on their side had slightly shorter hair but couldn't remember which one he was. Scorpius then introduced himself properly, which didn't go over well with the girl. Apparently her dad had something against Malfoys. Things went from bad to worse when James tried to assure the Weasley girl that it wasn’t like Scorpius was a Slytherin already before being sorted. Scorpius felt his neck go stiff and he wished dearly that he wasn’t seated between James and the Scamander twin, with Weasly glaring from directly opposite him. Still he managed to turn enough to look directly at James and tell him that he was very much looking forward to join Slytherin and didn’t see a problem with it. During a few agonising seconds everything was quiet, save from the low rattling of the train going steadily north. Then, finally, Al looked at Scorpius and asked why he wanted to be in Slytherin. Scorpius relaxed a few notches at the absolute lack of accusation in his voice. “Mostly because it’s family tradition I guess, but it also seems more-” he grappled for the phrase his grandmother would use “-more pro-active. The best way to accomplish something is to strive for it. That’s the whole point of ambition.” Scorpius considered admitting that he had no idea what it was he wanted to accomplish yet, but thought better of it. “Besides, if I’m sorted into Hufflepuff or Gryffindor my grandmother would probably wither away from shame and my parents would pull me out of Hogwarts for home schooling.” To his surprise Scorpius found himself tousled good-naturedly by the twin next to him. “Unfortunate seating, lets hope that me and James wont rub off our Gryfindorkishness and Puffiness on you on the way to Hogwarts. On the upside, Lysander is in Ravenclaw and both Al and Rose have the smarts to get in there if they want.” It took a moment for it to sink in, but then Scorpius eyes widened. Of course, he should have realized that James wasn't exactly Ravenclaw material. “''You'' are from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff? I thought, since you all got blue scarves-” James and Lorcan shared amused grins, while Lysander laughed outright, gasping something about James stranded outside some door – whatever that meant. “''These'' scarves? Nah, these are Puddlemore scarves. I told you that I’m a fan of them already in Diagon Alley, didn’t I? We’re still celebrating their victory against the Arrows last week.” Scorpius took the opportunity to change the subject with great enthusiasm. “Did you get to see the match? I tried talking dad into going but - anyway, from what I read in the referee of the match it was the best match in the whole season.” “The review in Quidditch Weekly? Our mum wrote that one, she brought the lot of us along to help catch all the details.” “Your mum is Ginevra Potter? That’s awesome!” For some reason, James and the Scamanders thought that was hilarious and James didn’t stop laughing until Rose, rather viciously, kicked him on the leg. “James, he’s still a Malfoy and dad said we should stay away and he wants to be in Slytherin-” Amazingly, James sobered up as if someone had flicked a switch. “Oh come off it Rose. None of you are sorted yet and we’re just talking quidditch. You and Al might not appreciate a bludger to the head, but some of us got good taste in entertainment.” “But James!” James shrugged. “Our families can’t choose our friends for us forever. Are you going to write home every time you are about to talk to a new student so that your dad can screen them and give you permission first? Because that’s not going to work.” He glanced at Lorcan and Lysander “Not that I’d trade you guys away, but I’ve understood we’ve all been fraternizing with our respective housemates without asking our parents for permission slips. Lysander even talks to people who read books, horrible thought. Then James wriggled around so that he was sort-of facing Scorpius and held out his hand in the cramped space between them. “How ‘bout we try this again, and do it properly? I’m James Potter, soon-to-be second year Gryffindor.” After a brief hesitation Scorpius took the offered hand. “Scorpius Malfoy, hopefully soon-to-be Slytherin.” Scorpius let go of James’ hand and his eyes drifted to Al. “What about you? Which house do you want to be sorted in?” Al shrugged, tugged at his hair, looked out the window, tugged his hair a bit harder and mumbled “dunno”. James filled in for him instead. “Aunt Mione, that’s Rose’s mum, has tried to make him thoroughly Ravenclaw but everyone in the family so far has been in Gryffindor so he’ll probably end up in Hufflepuff just to be strange.” “That’s funny, the last two weeks you seemed convinced that I’d be in Slytherin.” “Really?” Scorpius couldn’t quite contain the slight shiver of hope in his voice. “That would be awesome! Oh, and I just remembered another reason to join Slytherin – dad says the common room is below the lake! Instead of normal windows you can look up in the lake from below and if the lights are kept low we might get to see merpeople!” They continued talking. Not so much about houses anymore but about their families. Well, about the Potter, Weasley and Scamander families at least, since they seemed to have an endless supply of cool stories. Scorpius didn’t really have a whole lot to add unless the conversation drifted towards quidditch, but that was fine. James especially knew a lot of stories that seemed new even to Weasley and Al. Stories about how James’ and Al’s dad (Harry Potter!) had fought a Dark Lord, survived the killing curse twice and became Master of Death, though when Scorpius asked if he still was Master of Death and if it gave him special powers James said that their dad had forfeited that mastery and Al and Rose insisted that Harry Potter was a normal if slightly overprotective father and uncle. As such, Scorpius felt fairly sure that James was just making it up. On the topic of overprotective parents who seemed to screen everyone who comes within touching distance of their children, Scorpius was tempted to mention the oversized Malfoy Manor and how Scorpius had managed to scare away (or anger away) the few children his parents had allowed over. He didn’t though, not when Weasley was glaring worse than Venetia Nott had after The Glue Incident. Instead, Scorpius felt inspired to complain about hair gel. That somehow led to James telling an upproaring story about how Albus had seen Oliver – a distant cousin on their father’s side – using hair gel and had tried to make his own using his potion supplies. “And that is why Al’s hair is several shades lighter then it has ever been before. “ James finished his tale. Al was by then several shades darker in the face but looked more uncomfortable than angry. Scorpius got up, unearthed several tins of hair gel from his trunk and dumped them all over Al. “Take as many as you want – I detest the stuff and don't intend on using it until I have to go home.” ---- The food trolley came by a few hours after they had left the station, and by then Weasley had unearthed some schoolbooks that she, Al and Lysander were hunched over. Scorpius would have felt left out if he hadn't been sandwiched between James and Lorcan who were enthusiastically showing him how to do tricks with exploding snap cards, a sheet of paper and a pair of tweezers. While the others grabbed for small moneybags and enthusiastically talked about cauldron cakes and pumpkin pastries, Scorpius rummaged through his trunk until he got hold of a tin box. Inside the box were several neatly wrapped sandwiches. Fluffy white bread with chewy crust and filled with – Salazar's sweet second daughter – with Affy's curry chicken. Scorpius hoped to Merlin that his parents would never find out that the house elves were feeding him leftovers. It sounded like something they’d object to, but Scorpius was not prepared to give up his favourite food just because it was based on yesterday’s dinner. Just as Scorpius was about to dig in he noticed that the others were looking strangely at him. James cleared his throat. “You know, if you, err, didn’t bring any money then you could have some of our candy.” Scorpius stared at James until he remembered that his mouth was open, and then said the first thing that came to his mind. “Why would I want your candy?” Weasley instantly bristled, but she seemed to do that every time Scorpius said something. “What, you think you’re too good for our candy?” Scorpius looked at his sandwich mournfully. The curry sauce had already started to drip but he put it back in the thin paper wrap and closed the box so that he could rummage through his trunk for evidence. “Weasley, I already have, let’s see... five chocolate frogs, two bags of Bertie Botts beans – sweet and original selection respectively, three Wildberry Wands, one Liquorice Wand – you can have that I don’t like them, some jelly slugs and Whizbees though I’ve already started on those aaaaand enough pocket money to buy more if I want to. Which I won’t, because I’m really like these sandwiches.” “Mate,” Lorcan started with a hint of ave “where do your keep your clothes and books when you have half a candy store stashed in your trunk?” ---- Rubeus Hagrid was hands down the most frightening person Scorpius had ever met. He was large. Not just tall and not merely overweight, but the kind of overwhelmingly large that implied that he could kill you without even noticing. That and the grey-tinged mane of hair covering his head coupled with clothes apparently made out of various bits of animals gave an uncanny feeling. Weasley and Al ran up to Hagrid while James and the Scamanders disappeared among the older students. Scorpius tried to keep up with Al, but Weasley was holding on to him and Scorpius got separated from them by a large group of other first years. By the time he reached the boats Al was long gone, presumably with Weasley. Instead Scorpius was seated with the Bellamy boy and a dark-skinned girl who introduced herself as Naomi Arrington. However, those two had been sitting together on the train and soon continued what appeared to be a very complicated and heated discussion about discrimination. Scorpius made a half-hearted attempt to join in, but they seemed to be headed straight towards a full-blown argument so he thought better of it and focused on Hogwarts instead. It really was a huge castle. Impressive, but almost overbearing in ancient grandness and nothing like Malfoy Manor. Then again... Scorpius peered down into the pitch-black water. The Manor didn’t even have a pond, never mind a lake, at least not on the premises. “Did you drop something?” Arrington asked. “What? No, it’s just, we might already be passing over the dungeons, they reach under the lake.” Nice non-sequitor Scorpius, now you look like a child, Scorpius thought. Arringting seemed fascinated though. “Really? Isn’t that dangerous though? What if there’s a leak? They’d be flooded.” Bellamy shook his head. “They probably have all underground areas covered with protective spell work. Japanese wizards developed charms that could protect underground safe-rooms from massive earthquakes and floods several decades ago.” Well, that was reassuring at least. ---- Scorpius kept close to Bellamy and Arrington as they were led to the antechamber. A tiny man walked in through another door at the opposite end of the room and climbed a stepladder. Guardians of the resurrection stone (June, 2018) The moon was high in the sky and nearly full as Scorpius and Albus made their way towards the Forbidden Forest, using the windows on Hagrid’s hut to guide them right. Finding the path at the edge of the forest was tricky when they didn’t dare to light their wands, but eventually they found it. It was eerily silent and once they lit their wands it only got worse, as the shadows beyond the light deepened further. Every time one of them stepped on a twig, or when the hem of a robe rustled a few leaves, Scorpius imagined the sound echoing through the forest and alerting the creatures out there. Scorpius wondered for how long they had walked. One hour or two, every minute seemed to stretch on forever so he was surprised when Albus told him that it only had been twenty minutes. The trees were standing so close together that they couldn’t even glimpse the moon. Finally, they caught a glimmer of metal in the distance. “Is that a…” “It must be the car wreck,” Albus confirmed “we are on the right track.” As they approached, they got a better view of the old car. The glimmer they had seen came from the headlights, apparently the only part of the car that hadn’t rusted. While Albus consulted the map, Scorpius circled the car. There were still a few scraps of peeling blue paint here and there, but there were cracks in the windows and the leather seats had long tears in them. Some kind of plant was growing over and around one of the back wheels, with long wines creeping over the boot and towards the cracked rear window. “You think it’s really dead?” Scorpius whispered, carefully poking the car with his wand as if it would suddenly roar to life. “It would have to be. It was probably only alive because of magic in the first place so it would have eventually run out of fuel this far from the castle. Now, according to the map we should go in the direction of the right-side doors for about an hour. We won’t have a trail though, so we better mark the trees.” “Mark them how, exactly?” Albus shrugged. “How about the same way we’d mark Hufflepuffs?” Scorpius could feel a grin spreading despite the creepy surroundings, as he directed his wand against one of the trees and pronounced the colour-changing spell. Brilliant green colour spread out over branch. The boys congratulated each other before carrying on, marking the trees frequently in bright colours. Their excitement died down soon as the heavy silence of the woods fell upon them. Scorpius agreed to exhaust his wand and carry on the spell casting, leaving Albus to light up their surroundings in case they were suddenly attacked. As soon as Scorpius’ wand light died out he missed it. Now the darkness felt much closer. It was little more than forty-five minutes after they had left the car when the boys both heard a far-off sound in the distance. Scorpius thought it sounded almost like rattling, but with a chorus of snapping sounds. “Oh no,” Albus groaned “nonononono – not yet. It’s too soon!” Scorpius turned around, wand at the ready, but couldn’t see anything. He only heard the increasingly audible sounds of many large shapes with many large legs and horrible snapping pincers that were coming closer and closer. “Scorpius.” “Hm?” “We can’t be that far away from the hollow. If we sprint we might make it there before they catch up. Then we blast our way out.” “This didn’t sound nearly as insane in the common room.” “RUN!” Scorpius followed command without a second thought, fuelled by panic and sheer mind-numbing horror as he could hear the giant spiders closing in on them. Up ahead he could see hints of light, possibly – hopefully the moonlight shining down in the clear of the hollow. This is insane, we’re going to die! We’re going to die, we’re going to die, we are stuck with our retreat cut off and we’re going to DIE! Just as they reached the very edge of the clearing one of the acromantulas seemed to jump out of nowhere, knocking Albus to the ground. Scorpius lashed out his wand and shouted the first spell he came to think of. “Rictumsempra!” Belatedly, Scorpius wondered if spiders were ticklish, but the spell did some good as the acromantula fell over in spasms. He spun around and directed a few freezing charms towards the advancing spiders, but it only seemed to slow them down. Another acromantula grabbed Albus by the leg, dragging him away while Albus’ wand was lying on the ground just a few inches out of his grasp. Scorpius had thought that he felt terror while running a few moments ago. He had been wrong. Albus clawing at the ground for his wand while being slowly dragged away by a giant spider was terror and at that moment something snapped in Scorpius. “CONFRINGO!” For a moment, everything was lit up in an orange glow and Scorpius felt the heat wave a fraction of a second before he was hurled backwards into a tree. Lights danced across his vision and everything went in and out of focus, but the acromantula seemed unharmed. Scorpius’ inner defeatist noted that Albus seemed to have given up on his wand and was just kicking the acromantula with his free leg. Scorpius hastily shook himself out of his stupor. He wasn’t sure just what had happened there but he still held his wand, more due to cramp than anything else, and so he just had to keep trying. “Rictumsempra! Bombarda! Wingardium Leviosa!” He couldn’t lift the acromantula very far, but it was enough to allow Albus to scramble away and grab his own wand. “Aranea Inflammaria! No, blast – Incendio!” A thin wall of flames now shielded Albus and Scorpius from the closest of the incoming acromantulas. “Are you insane? I thought the plan was to just light the nets on fire!” “Well it didn’t work!” “You pronounced it wrong, it’s Inflammarae-“ “Who cares?” Category:Fanfiction Category:All Pages Category:WIP Category:Stories Category:Needs a picture All for nothing "Boys, even if you had found the resurrection stone it wouln't really have brought anyone back. All you get is a shadow of the person, like a ghost. It would be cruel to the people you brought back and it would be cruel to the living who have been trying to move on." "But you used it!" Mr Potter looked a bit sheepish at that, and suddenly seemed very interested in the small table between Scorpius' and Albus' beds. "That was a one-time thing to get moral support. I honestly didn't think I would survive that night so it seemed fair to get a heads-up first." "But... if we just wanted to meet those people?" This time it was Scorpius dad who stepped up. "Can't say I'm very familiar with the afterlife, but what would you say if a stranger dragged you across the world, away from what you were doing, without prior warning?" "Most of those people would be relatives." "So related strangers then, you still don't actually know someone who's dead." Category:Fanfiction Category:All Pages Category:WIP Category:Stories Category:Needs a picture See also *SMatPA book by book *SMatPA masterplan *SMatPA Tropelist This story has also been posted on *fanfiction.net Category:Fanfiction Category:All Pages Category:WIP Category:Stories Category:Needs a picture